Door closer with holding means



Feb. 14, 1961 o. c. EcKEl. ETAL DOOR CLOSER WITH HOLDING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 6, 1958 FIG. 2

FIG. 5

Feb. 14, 1961 o. c. EcKEL ETAL 2,971,214

DooR CLOSER WITH HOLDING MEANS Filed Nov. e, 1958 A 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVFNTORS OLIVER C. ECKEL GEORGE E. GILPATRICK A TORNEYS United States Patent() 'W `noon CLOSER wrrH HOLDING MEANS Oliver C. Eckel, Carlisle, Mass., and George E. Gilpatrick, West Hartford, Conn., assignors to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of `Con-- i necticut `Filed Nov. 6, 1958, Ser. No.4 772,313 4 Claims.V (Cl. I6-185) This invention relates generally to door closers and more specifically to a door closer provided with auxiliary means to hold the door in closed position.

An object of the present invention -is to provide a door closer having means for exerting a relatively high holdin-g force `on the door so as to retain the door in closed position under normal operating `conditions `but which is automatically released upon the exertion of a predetermined opening force on the door so that thereafter the door may be fully opened with exertion of a moderate opening force on the door, and the door will be closed with moderate force without the need for hydraulic, pnuematic or frictionalchecking devices. A particular useful application of the invention is in connection with rubber doors of the type usad on loading platforms and the like, which doors are opened by irn- `pact and should operate rather easily and ,at the same time require Ya relatively strongforce to hold them in closed position. The utility of the invention is particularlyV notable in connection with double swinging doors which open in either direction.

A further object is to provide a door closer and holding means of the type referred to which is simple and compact in construction, economical to fabricate and assemble, and yet -durable and rugged for providing trouble-free service over long periods of time even under adverse operating conditions.

These and other objects and features will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail thereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplied in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings: t

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially a'long the line 11 of Fig. 2;

" Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of an embodiment of the mechanism of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4-is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the mechanism during initiation of a door opening movement;

Fig.` 5 is a'vicw similar to Fig. 4 showing the parts during further opening Ymovement of the door; and

Fig. 6 is a View similar to Figs. 4 and 5 showing the i parts l,during final `closing movement of the door.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 in which a door check and closer suitable for use with a swinging door is illustrated, it is seen that main frame 1 and end frame 2 are fastened to door frame cross member or header 3 g 2,971,214 Patented Feb. 14, 1961 ICC axis coincidental with the axis of pintle 6 in any 4desired manner.

The upper or free end of pintle 6 is rotatably supported in aperture 9 of frame 1 and has. an outwardly extending pintle arm 10 formed integral therewith. Pintle arm 10 has an upstanding abutment 11 formed thereon at its outer end, the abutment 11 having a generally cylindrical` main portion 12 and a generally rectangular rib portion 13. Door closer spring 14 is coiled around pintle 6 between pintle arm 10 and frame 1 and has its ends engaging opposite sides of abutment portion 13. Spring stop pin 15 is fastened Ito frame 1 and extends between the ends of spring 14 (most clearly seen in Fig. 2).

In the door closer thus far described, movement of door 8 in either direction rotates pintle 6.and pintle arm 10 so as to move abutment 13, thereby stressing spring 14 between pin 15 and abutment 13. Door 8 is thus subject to a closing force whenever it is displaced from the closed position and will be returned to closed position when it is released.

To prevent unnecessary oscillatory movement as well as to hold the door in a centered or closed position against stray opening forces, such as wind, a pair of L-shaped control members 17 and 18 are rotatably supported on frame 1 by pivot pins 19 and 19a which are secured between the top of the frame 1 and the bentunder lip portion 16 of frame 1. Control members 17 and 18 are respectively Iprovided with first arm portions 20 and 21 and offset second arm portions 22 and 23 (dotted lines-Fig. 2) which are positioned in overlying relationship to deiine a generally U-shaped slot in which circular abutment 12 of pintle arm 10 is positioned when the door is closed. Threaded stop members 24 and 25 which are mounted in the bent-under lip portion 16 are adjustably positioned to engage the arms 22 and 23 to limit movement of arms 22 and 23 towards the portion 16 and thus limit pivoting movement of the control members 17 and 18 to door closed position.

The end frame 2 is positioned and supported relative to main frame 1 by spacer bars 26 and 27 secured at opposite ends to the frames 1, 2. Toggle rods 28 and 29 are slidably received in wedge-shaped abutments or guides 30 and 31 and extend through elongated apertures 33 and 34 in ange 32 of the end frame 2. The other ends of toggle rods 28 and 29 carry end members 3S and 36 which pass through elongated slots 35a and 36a in portion 16 of frame 1 and which have notched ends 37 and 38 in engagement with pins 39 and 40 positioned on control members 17 and 18 at a point displaced from the axis of rotation at the pivot pins 19 and 19a, respectively. As most clearly seen in Fig. 1, toggle rods 28 and 29 are threaded intermediate the ends thereof and carry springs 41 and 42 which are compressed between abutments 30 and 31, and washers 43 and 44 which abut nuts 45 and 46 in engagement with the threaded portion. Abutments 30 and 31 are thus biased into engagement -with U-shaped grooves 30a and 31a, and the ends 35 and 36 are biased into arrangement with pins 39 and 40. It is noted, at this point, that control members 17 and 18 are provided with angular shoulders 48 and 49 which cooperate with front face 16a of frame 1 to limit pivoting movement of members 17 and 18 as will be hereinafter described.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5 in which one-half of the control mechanism is illustrated, it is seen that movement of door 8 (shown in dotted lines) moves pintle arm 10 in the direction of the arrows shown in Figs. 4 and 5, bring circular abutment 12 into engagement with arm 20 of control member 17 thereby rotating member 17 about the axis of pivot 19. Rotation of member 17 causes pin 39 to drive toggle rod 28 toward the frame 2, thereby compressing spring 41 between abutment 30 and washer 43 and also pivoting rod 28 and guide .30. As movement of door 8 continues, .pin l39 crosses av linev coincident with the axis of toggle .bar 28, thereby moving overcenter and allowing spring 41 to expand and drive control member 17 to the position shown in Fig. in which faceV 49 engages face 16a of frame 1 to limit further movement. In this position, pintle arm (and door 8) is free of control member 17 and can be moved to the dotted position against the force of spring 14.

During closing movement in the `direction of arrow shown in Fig. 6, abutment 12 of pintle arm 10 ,passes arm 20 of control member 17 and engages arm 23, thereby exerting a force tending to rotate control member 17 in a counterclockwise direction as shown in Fig.

16. The movement of control member 17 in such direction initially drives toggle rod 2S in the Vdirection of frameZ thereby compressing spring 41 and retarding door movement. As explained during opening movement, rod 2S also pivots as permitted by pivoting of guide 30 in groove 30a. However, once pin 19 crosses a line coincident with the axis of toggle bar 28, spring 41 is free to act in the direction to exert a closing force on door 8 by bringing arm 20 into engagement with abutment 12 of pintle arm 10.

Since a duplicate mechanism to that shown in Figs. 4 .to 6 is provided to control movement of the door in a similar manner in the opposite direction, it is clear that control mem-bers 17 and 18 cooperate to reduce oscillatory movement and to center pintle arm 10 (and therefore door 8) yas well as to restrain door 8 against movement by extraneous forces (such aspwind) which are insuicient to overcome the forces exerted by springs 4'1Vand 42. i

As variations could be made in the above construction and different embodiments of this invention could be made by one skilled in the art, such variations and embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of this invention.

We claim:

1. In a door closer, a frame, a pintle rotatably mounted on the frame, a pintle arm fixed to and extending outwardly from the pintle, said pintle and pintle arm being rotatable toward and away from a predetermined initial rotated position, a generally L-shaped control member having rst and second angularly related arm portions, means pivotally mounting the control member on the frame for movement between a rst rotated position wherein the rst arm portion is in the path of movement of the pintle arm away from said predetermined initial position in one direction, and a second rotated position wherein the second arm portion is in the path of movement of the pintle arm toward said predetermined initial position in the opposite direction, and means forming a toggle linkage with said control member stabilizing said control member in said first and second rotated positions.

2. In a door closer, a frame, a pintle rotatably mounted on the frame, a pintle arm fixed to and extending out- 'wardly from the pintle, said pintle and pintle arm being rotatable in opposite directions toward and away from 'a predetermined initial rotated position, a pair of generally L-shaped control members having first and second angularly related arm portions, means pivotally mounting the control members on the frame for movement between a first rotated position of each wherein the first arm portions thereof are disposed on opposite sides of the pintle arm in the path of movement of the pintle arm away from said predetermined initial position in either direction, and a second rotated position wherein the second arm portions are in the path of return movement of theY pintle arm toward said predetermined initial position, and vmeans forming a toggle linkage withl said control members stabilizing said control members in said first and second rotated positions. v

3. In a door closer, a frame, a pintle rotatably mounted on the frame, a pintle arm fixed to and extending outwardly from the pintle, said pintle and pintle arm being rotatable in opposite directions toward and away from a predetermined initial yrotated position, means biasing the pintle and arm into said initial rotated position, a pair of generally L-shaped control members having iirst and,` second angularly related arm portions, means `pivotally mounting 'the control members on the frame for movement between a first rotated position of each wherein `the first arm portions thereof are disposed on opposite sides -of the pintle arm in the path of movement of the pintle arm away from said predetermined initial position in either direction, and a second rotated position wherein the second arm portions are in the path of return movement .of the pintle arm toward said predetermined initial position, said second arm portions being disposed at different elevations relative to the pintle-and pintle arm and being positioned in overlying relationship when the control members are in said rst rotated position, and means forming a toggle linkage with said control member stabi-` lizing said control members in said first and second rotated positions.

4. In a door closer, a frame, a pintle rotatably mounted on the frame, a pintle arm xed to and extending outwardly from the pintle, said pintle and pintle arm being rotatable in opposite directions toward and yaway .from a predetermined initial rotated position, means biasing .they pintle and pintle arm into said initial rotated position, a pair of generally L-shaped control members having first and second angularly related arm portions, pivot means pivotally mounting the control member on the frame for movement between a rst rotated position of each wherein the first arm portions thereof are disposed on opposite sides of the pintle arm in the path of movement of the pintle armaway from said'predetermined initial position in either direction, and la second rotated position wherein the second arm portions are in the path of return movement of the pintle arm toward said predetermined initial position, andmeans forming a toggle linkage with said control member stabilizing said control member in said iirst and -second rotated positions comprising a pair `of rods, each rod being pivotally connected at one end to one of the control members at a point displaced from the pivot means and being slidably mounted at the other -end on the frame, and spring means biasing the rods toward the control members.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,573,311 French et al Feb. 16, 1926 2,468,410 Schacht Apr. 26, 1949 2,700,175 Carlson Jan. 25, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 517,759 Great Britain Feb. 7, l194i.) 

